Scent
by Belladandy
Summary: Just a random ficlet that popped into my mind.


Scent By Belladandy  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the show, but you already knew that. I am making no money of this and am broke anyway, so there would be no point in suing me.  
  
AN: Thank you Dee for your help Beta reading.  
  
In vulcans as in humans the since of smell is believed to be the first to evolve. As such it was connected to the limbic mind, the arias of the brain that controlled memory and emotion. Many scents that were not registered consciously could have an effect on the body and the subconscious. The detection of certain pheromones also influenced both Human and Vulcan reproductive cycles.  
  
T'Pol reflected on this as she walked thru the corridors of C deck. She was returning to her quarters after a successful first contact mission with Captain Archer and Lieutenant Reed. It was the cloying lemon reek of the decon gel on her body that turned her thoughts to the sense of smell. Ever since T'Pol had made the deliberate decision to give up her nasal numbing agent she had done her best to ignore all the various scents found on enterprise. But tonight for some reason her mind was dwelling on them.  
  
Finally entering her own quarters she stretched her sense in an effort to pick out as many different scents as she could. There was the smell of detergent from the clean laundry she had washed earlier, and a whiff of smoke from the meditation candles she burned each night. Along with it was the odor of sealant that had invaded the entire ship during the last series of repairs. But over powering it all was the stench of decon gel B.  
  
With a sigh T'Pol moved to the tiny bathroom attached to her quarters for a much needed shower. As she lathered and rinsed away the offending odor she analyzed the sent of her shower gel. The base was the caustic smell of all soap, but it was overlaid with sharper chemical scents. The only odor strong enough for a human to detect was a green sent that according to the bottle was a plant called aloe vera. It was a soft refreshing sent that reminded her of the threshk plants on Vulcan.  
  
Sighing again she turned of the water and began to dry herself. Once again able to detect her own sent T'Pol breathed it in, allowing the smell of her skin to relax her as for some reason it always did. A warm spicy sent she thought, but also dry like nutmeg or mace. All vulcans smelled faintly of sand and dust, like the deserts they had been born to. Humans on the other hand smelled of salt and the other minerals contained in their sweat. T'Pol reflected on this seemingly insignificant difference between the two races as she retrieved her sleepwear from the drawer and put it on  
  
Truthfully T'Pol had never found the smell of humans offensive, only too strong. Even at P'Jem when she had told Captain Archer that she preferred the cold, it wasn't his smell that stopped her from sharing a blanket with him. She could admit, at least to herself, that his body odor was only an excuse. It was easier then explaining to him why Vulcans avoided close contact, especially sleeping, when their mental shields where naturally weakened.  
  
There was only one smell on board Enterprise that truly bothered her any more, the quadruped the Captain insisted on keeping as a pet. The small cushion on the floor that T'Pol always sat on while meditating still bore a lingering sent of the small dog from its last visit, almost a month ago. At the time she had said nothing about the offensive odor to Captain Archer, who had brought the dog. This was only because her diplomatic training had momentarily failed her. But how was one supposed to say, "That animal stinks of feces," without being insulting to its master?  
  
Deciding to forgo her normal nightly meditation T'Pol lay down on her bed and drew the blanket up around her. Strange how little thought she had given to the smells around her for the last year. A scientist should use every available means to gather information. While she refused to think of the crew as test subjects, wasn't that the reason she had chosen to stay on Enterprise, to learn about humans?  
  
After taking several slow deep breaths to clear her mind T'Pol began to call up the images and voices of each of the senior staff and tried to recall what each smelled like. Ensign Sato probably had the least body odor of the group but that seemed to be normal for human females. However she regularly wore a heavy floral sent that would have been quite pleasant if it wasn't so glaringly artificial. When she was tense or frightened her body produced a sharp metallic sent that turned T'Pol's stomach, although that was happening much more rarely.  
  
Commander Tucker, well it was difficult to tell what his body odor was like he always smelled of engineering. That mix of valve sealant, warp plasma, engine grease, and ozone must have permeated his skin. T'Pol could hardly find fault with that; however there was the trip to Risa when the obnoxious sent he had worn was matched in tastelessness only by his shirt.  
  
Lieutenant Reed smelled basically like an average human male. Unlike others he didn't pick up the scents around him, and he also lacked the heavy caustic sent some crewmen had. T'Pol suspected this was due to his diet, because he avoided strong foods like garlic and onions that clung to the skin.  
  
Ensign Mayweather always smelled of sweat, he seemed to spend all his free time in the gym. Withier on the rock wall, lifting weights, or practicing jitsu, he could always be found there doing something. The smell of salt lingered on the Ensign, even when he was freshly showered.  
  
Doctor Phlox was another who picked up the scents associated with his job. But underneath the smell of his animals and their habitats was another odor. This one was a sweeter sent that reminded T'Pol to the sap to the klah tree. Maybe that was the normal sent for Denoblian males. What ever it was it was more pleasant then the smell of his Pyrithian bat, or the fluid that housed his Rigelian bloodworms.  
  
T'Pol didn't need to concentrate to recall Captain Archers scent, not after spending a night tied up with him on Coridan. His body odor was a deep, rich smell that reminded her somewhat of freshly turned soil. This strange combination appealed to T'Pol in a way she had never been able to explain, even to herself. It eased and comforted her in a way that had nothing to do with logic, but every thing to do with instinct.  
  
It was only now when she was half way between waking and sleeping that she could admit just how profound an effect the Captain's scent had on her. That combined with the warmth of his body had calmed her more then once when she was on the verge of losing her hard won control. At those times his smell brought a sense of peace and safety to parts of her mind that meditation failed to reach. When she was near him breathing in his sent she could almost believe the rest of the universe momentarily ceased to exist. It could only be because of her profound trust in Captain Archer that his smell should affect her so deeply.  
  
With that thought T'Pol turned onto her side, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and fell asleep. 


End file.
